{"id":4732,"date":"2022-03-09T22:36:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T22:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=196697"},"modified":"2022-03-09T22:36:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T22:36:33","slug":"new-york-gov-hochul-wants-drug-war-victims-to-open-first-legal-dispensaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=4732","title":{"rendered":"New York Gov. Hochul wants drug war victims to open first legal dispensaries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>New York legalization update: Governor\u2019s equity plans revealed | Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.1 (Yoast SEO v18.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                   <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <\/p>\n<div id=\"copy_clipboard_success\" class=\"fixed top-0 left-0 right-0\">\n<div class=\"bg-white p-lg container mt-xl flex justify-between elevation-low rounded\"> <span class=\"flex items-center\">     <span class=\"ml-md\">Link copied to your clipboard<\/span> <\/span> <button id=\"copy_clipboard_close_btn\">    <\/button> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>                     <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><button class=\"button\" data-testid=\"age-gate-no-button\" id=\"tou-cancel\">no<\/button><button class=\"button ml-md\" data-testid=\"age-gate-yes-button\" id=\"tou-continue\">yes<\/button><\/p>\n<p><label class=\"checkbox__label my-xl\"><span class=\"text-xs\" id=\"remember-user-label\">Remember me for 30 days. <br \/>I confirm that this is not a shared device.<\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In an unprecedented move, New York State plans to dedicate the first 100 licenses of its recreational cannabis program to individuals with marijuana-related convictions, or those who have a family member with a weed-related conviction.<\/p>\n<p>The state will additionally likely provide these new license holders with $200 million to help them get their businesses up and running, with an emphasis on defraying real estate costs.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Cannabis Control Board will meet to discuss and vote on <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.ny.gov\/system\/files\/documents\/2022\/03\/part_116_caurd_regulations.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the proposed policy <\/a>tomorrow, March 10. Insiders expect it to pass. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/09\/nyregion\/marijuana-sellers-licenses-hochul.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lawmakers expect the $200 million<\/a> to appear in this year\u2019s state budget in April.<\/p>\n<p>New York State Majority Leader Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a prominent architect of the state\u2019s legalization bill, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/09\/nyregion\/marijuana-sellers-licenses-hochul.html\">told the <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/09\/nyregion\/marijuana-sellers-licenses-hochul.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s critical because it\u2019s a huge industry that\u2019s going to grow our economy a lot, and I think it makes sense to let that growth begin with New Yorkers,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-new-york-s-disparate-drug-arrest-history\">New York\u2019s disparate drug arrest history<\/h2>\n<p>The policy aims to rectify the egregious and starkly racial impacts of the War on Drugs on New York communities. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/politics\/new-york-gov-cuomo-says-cannabis-legalization-is-a-2019-priority\">As Leafly reported<\/a>, for instance, a 2018 study concluded that between 2010 and 2017, police arrested eight times as many Black and Latinx people as white people in New York City.<\/p>\n<p>The study noted that police arrested folks for pot in East Harlem at a rate 13 times higher than the Upper East Side, its adjacent neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabis.ny.gov\/system\/files\/documents\/2022\/02\/cannabis-management-fact-sheet-social-equity_0_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York\u2019s legalization bill<\/a>, which former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law last March, dictates that half of all marijuana-related licenses\u2014not just retailers but growers and all components of the industry\u2014must go to individuals who \u201chave lived in communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs and other underrepresented groups including minority and women-owned businesses, distressed farmers, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While many proponents of cannabis reform in New York support the new policy, some have concerns.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/health\/new-york-medical-pot-any-condition\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>New York medical cannabis approved for \u2018any\u2019 condition a doctor recommends<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>A member of Empire State NORML\u2019s Board of Directors, Ryan Lepore\u2014who is also a co-founder and former director of NYC NORML\u2014said that illicit market \u201clegacy\u201d operators, who won\u2019t necessarily qualify for the new licenses, may end up left in the lurch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are pretty happy that decent solutions are being put forth. But there\u2019s still a lot of stuff that\u2019s not getting addressed [like the status of legacy operators],\u201d he told Leafly.<\/p>\n<p>Lepore said he\u2019s also hearing from constituents who believe lawmakers should spend the $200 million differently, or that it\u2019s simply too much money. \u201cSome people would say that\u2019s a big price tag to pay when there are other departments that exist, and economic development funds, that could be tapped into,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>Some industry insiders, he added, have argued lawmakers should spend the money on educational opportunities and \u201cincubators that could get people into this industry as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/new-york-gov-hochul-wants-drug-war-victims-to-open-first-legal-dispensaries.jpg\" alt=\"Max Savage Levenson's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>Max Savage Levenson<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">Max Savage Levenson likely has the lowest cannabis tolerance of any writer on the cannabis beat. He also writes about music for Pitchfork, Bandcamp and other bespectacled folk. He co-hosts The Hash podcast. His dream interview is Tyler the Creator.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/author\/max-savage-levenson\">View Max Savage Levenson&#8217;s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2022-03-10 07:30:49 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York legalization update: Governor\u2019s equity plans revealed | Leafly Link copied to your clipboard Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? noyes Remember me for 30 days. I confirm that this is not a shared device. Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. In an unprecedented move, New York State plans to dedicate the first 100 licenses of its recreational cannabis program to individuals with marijuana-related convictions, or those who have a family member with a weed-related conviction. The state will&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/new-york-gov-hochul-wants-drug-war-victims-to-open-first-legal-dispensaries.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}